Karaganda of today
is much like other large cities in Kazakhstan. The new imported cars
making their way along the main street, … as well as the large mural on
the old apartment building, … point to the present as well as to the
future. … Except, the tragic past of this city is hidden from view, … a
time that shaped it’s destiny.

Sheep and goats are now
part of this once desolate and hostile land. Nevertheless, it was much
differentfor the sheepherder’s
parents and grand parents. Beginning in 1929 and continuing well into
the 1950’s, Moscow hauled people by the trainload to this barren expanse
of the steppe, … nearly 2 million in all. It was necessary for
the exiles to build their own shelters and shops in order to turn the
region into a productive area for farming and mining. As these
industries increased, the indigenous people known as Kazaks were forced
to work along side the exiles.

Coal and iron mining in
this area was an important part of supplying material for the Soviet
army during World War 2. Some of the huge machinery was obtained from
the United States on the Lend-lease Program. The city of Karaganda
grew rapidly during the early 1940’s with log cabins for the workers and
gleaming white clubhouses for the executives. The city administration
building featured a landscaped courtyard with Lenin in the place of
honor. This building remains but with significant modifications and …
the grandiose Lenin statue … has been replaced with modern automobiles.
The five smaller statues on the top of the city hall honor the people of
today. Still, a more subdued statue of Lenin continues to haunt the
main street of this city.

Other buildings remain, as
relics of this time of rapid growth, but the log cabins are gone. By the
1950’s, the population of Karaganda peaked at over 800,000 … but
the heavy industries began to fail. Leaving the crumbling economy
behind, a mass exodus began even before the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991 with former exiles returning to their ancestral homelands.
Today, with a population of 400,000, … both Russian and Kazakh, … the
people enjoy a growing economy, freedom of speech, and a market economy
with well-stocked consumer items in the retail outlets.

The oppression of the time
past, … like Lenin’s statue … is greatly subdued. Yet, it is evident in
a monument located in the central part of the city. Two miners are
holding up a large chunk of coal; one, … using both hands, … is depicted
with the Asian features of a Kazakh; … while the other, … using only one
hand, … clearly represents an ethnic Russian. This is symbolic of how
the Russians viewed their supremacy over the indigenous Kazakh people.
Walking by the statue, Russians say, “Look how strong we are, doing the
same amount of work as a Kazakh, but with just one hand.” The Kazakh’s
reply, “Russians are so lazy that Kazakhs must work twice as hard.” In
reality, Kazakh’s prefer to honor their heroes of the past such as the
great poet and philosopher, Abai.

Those at this bus stop
continue to work in the mines and industrial plants but under a much
different leadership. They have good jobs even though only 8 of the
original 26 coalmines are working. Fortunately, all of the
metallurgical processing plants and heavy machinery manufacturing remain
active.

The tragic past is over
and the new has covered the old. People are free of the oppression of
the past. Likewise, now the city has many religious organizations that
were once banned during Soviet times. Mosques, Orthodox Churches, as
well as a variety of Christian denominations are located throughout the
city.

The Karaganda
region could be called the Bible Belt of Kazakhstan where 1/6th
of all the Baptist churches in this country are located! A large part
of this is due to the influence of German Baptists and other
Evangelicals who were exiled here and met secretly in homes.

Overlay: Praise God for exiled believers who
brought Christianity to this land

Today, some Evangelical
churches meet in homes while a few have large buildings where they meet.
Most are simply called Dom Molitvi, “House of Prayer”.

Overlay: Praise God
that the faith of the exiled believers was not smothered by the
circumstances

The Dom Molitvi
located in the Preshocktinsk District in the northern part of the
city is the largest. The present building was constructed in 1999 and
has a regular attendance exceeding 400 during the Sunday morning worship
service. The congregation is active in outreach in the community and is
in the process of developing house churches in the area.

Overlay: Pray for new
church starts in Karaganda

On this bus full of both Russian and Kazakh
people, there may be one or two believers. Even though Karaganda
has several Evangelical churches, Christian influence is low.

Overlay: Pray for new ways to share the old, old
story of Jesus and His love!

As the bus pulls away, a young lady is waiting for
someone. … She seems alone.

Overlay: “Then I heard
the voice of the Lord, saying,

…Perhaps she is a believer or, … more likely, … a
person who does not know Jesus.

Overlay:

‘Whom shall I send and
who will go for Us?’

…”What would you do if you were here? … Be her
friend? … Show her kindness? … Tell her that Jesus loves her?

Overlay:

Then I said, ‘Here am I, Send me!’

Isaiah
6:8

Pronunciation:

Abai
uh-BYE

Dom Molitvi dome ma-LEET-vii

Karaganda ka ra
GAHN da

Preshocktinsk
pre-SHOCK-tensk

Statement
About Video Use

The videos and other
media material produced by CRF Media are to be used as a
resource material for increasing the awareness of and
involvement with the specific people groups featured in
the material. The information is made available to
evangelical Christian organizations and individuals who commit
to sharing the information with others.

The videos produced
by CRF Media are not for sale. They are free to
qualified organizations and individuals with no postage or
handling charges. We mail the material only to churches or
other qualified organizations. We do not mail to individuals
without independent qualifying verification.

U.S. copyright
laws protect all media material produced by CRF Media. The
material is not to be copied for distribution without the
written consent of CRF Media.